Before 1945 most of the GTA was farmland. Large suburban cities, Mississauga, Vaughan, Maple, Brampton were either small towns, non-existent, or farmland. Toronto was largely relegated to what most now consider the city’s downtown core. Then it was known as Metro. From 1945 to the mid 60s the first true ‘suburbs’ were built. Forest Hill, now Canada’s most affluent neighbourhood tied with Rosedale, was one of them. Government guarantees and mortgage support, along with large scale infrastructure spending facilitated these suburbs.
The 1950s Real Estate Boom
At the height of the 50s economic boom, the Chair of Metro, effectively the head of Toronto’s development and planning, was Fred Gardiner – the namesake of the famous downtown highway. Gardiner claimed that Toronto was so prosperous and growing so fast that the local government could build whatever it wanted. Gardiner claimed that: “Money is not an issue for us, we have the resources to build whatever we choose.” This strong activist government supported a massive real estate boom. From the 60s to the 80s, much of Scarborough, Etobicoke, and North York were completed. Mississauga began its explosive growth in this period. Over time other suburbs and developments were completed.
The 1980s Toronto Real Estate Crash
The late 80s was a time of real estate speculation and overbuilding. This lead to an eventual crash which took 7 years to recover from. From the mid 90s to 2008, the GTA underwent a massive housing and condo boom. This continued after the conclusion of the Great Recession and peaked in the summer of 2017. While significant downturns have occurred, southern Ontario and the GTA have been development and real estate hotspots for almost 80 years running.